Bang, Bang
by Frostfoot-Dreamleaf
Summary: It's been five years since graduating, and one innocent trip to the mall turns into a horrific nightmare for Zach, Cody, Bailey and friends when they are trapped and separated by psychopathic gunmen who want London for ransom. Zailey.
1. Preface

**Hi guys! Yep a new Zailey story. I will finish The Game is Called Death, for those fans, because I have a plotline and the next chapter nearly finished. Just thought I'd have fun with this one. I think it will be about five or six chapters, this one. No vampires in this one, I promise! Hope you enjoy. **

Five years to the day, Bailey found herself staring at a pair of twins she'd never imagined seeing again. One out of cold content and dislike, and the other because of a horribly ended relationship resulting with the glazed over pink scar across his forehead. Wincing internally, so he didn't see, she averted her gaze and pondered that she hadn't meant to throw the china so hard. She never thought he wouldn't have ducked, or that it would have broken either. It was clear after that night, when he had to get eighteen stitches, things were through with them.

She hadn't expected them at all, not showing up to her small apartment in Florida, not with the group of people that followed for that matter. So many people outside, all once friends and companions, but since graduating, she hasn't given more than a wayward Facebook message or Christmas card to. And this makes her feel guilty, but not enough to really care.

"Bailey!" Addison cried, throwing her arms around the girl's neck.

"Addison..." She greeted hesitantly, "Zach, Cody, London, Maya, Woody, Marcus, Maddie, Renia." She addressed each by name, half smiling half glaring, "What a...surprise." She was about to say pleasant but it was not pleasant in the least. She was unprepared to entertain house guests by a number of reasons. Her house was all cluttered because she'd recently painted the walls a happy spring-time mint color, she was dressed in unflattering yoga pants with her hair all up, and she'd been right in the middle of scrubbing the floor so she'd answered with yellow work gloves on her hands.

"If I may ask, why are you here?" She said pointedly, looking away when she knew Cody was looking at her.

"Can we come in? It's awfully crowded here." Maya asked with a tinge of a smile.

"Erm," Before Bailey could say any affirmative, Zach was moving past her into the modest apartment, furnished with wicker and gingham. The whole sea soon followed.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked as they sat on couches and chairs pulled from around the house to the main room. Bailey leaned against the threshold, staring before her.

"The class reunion was yesterday, held here. The ship was docked in port Canaveral. I mean, it's not our ship anymore, but it's still a ship that we went to school on." Woody answered. Bailey nodded.

"Really? I didn't know it was here. My invite must have gotten lost in the mail." She mulled softly, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Yeah, it was awesome. Mr. Mosby wants to rent out out for our ten year, just think of what we'll be then. Drinks around, and I went to my old room. The dent in the wall was still there!" Zach laughed, and began regaling his friends with his new adventures from the previous night.

"Do you guys need anything? Food, drinks?" Bailey was in no mood to serve anyone, but she felt it impolite not to offer.

"I'll have a beer, if you have some." Zach said and a couple other people nodded in agreement.

"I'll have a low-fat chocolate caramel latte with coconut shavings and hold the wiped cream." London rattled off, throwing her pumps onto the foot table with an echoing crack.

"Rigggghhht." Bailey rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. She hadn't realized someone had followed her until she closed the fridge door with beers and other drinks in her fingers.

"Lost in the mail, huh?" Cody asked, plucking off a thick card stock invite from under a magnet. Bailey winced; she'd known perfectly well it was going on, and had chosen not to come. She hadn't thought they'd track her down, by god.

"I was busy." She said tensely, struggling to juggle all the drinks.

"Let me." Cody offered, and Bailey shook her head.

"Really, it's fine." They were so civil to one another it scared her. Cody seemed not to say why he'd followed her, and Bailey did not want to talk to him. It was painfully silent.

"I'm going to change." She said abruptly, "I guess...will you...take these out?" She rummaged through her drawers and found a box of wafers, "And these? I wasn't expecting anyone." She said icily. Cody seemed not to hear her jab, and she was already walking to her bedroom before she could see his response.

In her room, she went into the little bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. She was dreaming. Why the hell was her ex and all her former friends sitting in her living room, like it was yesterday they were running around that ship. But they were adults now, and she most certainty was an adult who would not let them see anything from her face. She would be strong and be nice to Cody, even though the very sight of him made her want to rip his hair out.

Walking in to her bedroom, she dug through her small closet and donned a pair of dark jeans and a simple tee shirt, and primped herself for a moment before she continued back out with all these people.

"Hi, everyone." She said as she tousled her hair out of the stiff bun, wishing she had time for a shower.

"Bailey, place looks great! What are you doing out here, though? What happened to Yale?" Maya asked.

"I majored in biology, graduated a year ago. I was going to start med school, but my great aunt fell ill. She lives about a blink away, and was rather estranged from my family. I suppose I am too, so I came down to watch her. Unfortunately the doctors say she doesn't have much time left, so I suppose I can be expecting to move back to Yale to continue soon enough." Bailey clamped her lips closed from saying any more, already horrified she'd said so much. There were coos and sorries from the group, and she sat beside Marcus.

"Have you dated anyone since...since..." Cody asked softly, and she knew what he was asking about. She stared at his forehead hard, regretting but not at the same time the sensation of being free of him.

"Well, Moose, for a bit. But we saw things differently." 'Differently' was perhaps the greatest lie she'd ever told. She recalled with a blushing face how she'd returned to Kettlecorn after her first year of college. Her family and Moose had been so glad to have her home, and he'd begun courting her at the beginning of the summer. By the end, he'd gotten down on one knee in the middle of a corn field.

"My mama says I'm gunna be running the family farm soon 'nuff. And that it's 'bout time I have settled down with a pretty lady, and I want that to be you, Missum Pickett." The same charm she had always recalled, but she just couldn't do it.

Seven Seas high had drastically changed things for her. It hurt, as he rambled on on one knee, that the shocking truth of it all stared her right in the face. She wanted her to come away from that 'silly stuck-up school' so far away and teach at the local middle school, or even volunteer at the hospitals where farmers who ran over their feet with tractors went. He wanted her to cook and clean and be a home wife to the little house he said he already had picked out so he could begin to oversee and become the main farm man. More importantly, he wanted her to be breed with many children to work the land as soon as they had wed.

He wouldn't ever want to go out and see the world, he wouldn't want a long engagement, and he wouldn't settle for just one or two children with at least five years in between. He would never stop being sexist, because she was his 'haystack hottie' who was made to clean and scrub the floors, and go out with the ladies every fortnight to gaze at the town's latest and biggest vegetables as a source of fun. He wanted to do what her parents and his parents had done as children- married at the age of 19 and become another generation at the farms.

She'd taken the ring for one night, not really with her heart, and in the morning she'd packed up and left everything including the ring. That had caused some strife in her family, as her parents greatly approved of this 'union' and how it would benefit her to marry such a well groomed and well endowed farmer. They loved her, of course, but all at the wrong times.

Since then, her dates had been nearly nonexistent, savor one or two nice men who had taken pity on her at the bars. So yes, her and Moose had ended badly.

"And you, Mr. Cody?" Addison asked, saving Bailey the embarrassment of having to ask herself, "How's your love life been?" There was a twinkle in her eyes.

"Well, I mean there was just Tanya and Ellie." He shrugged, but Zach cut in.

"And Lola, and Shawna, Emma, Louise, and Sue!" He chuckled, "My brother has more game than I do!"

Bailey felt her hands tighten around the beer bottle she was holding, and felt the need for something much stronger, like hard liquor or vodka at the moment. Cody saw her expression, and his eyes softened.

"It wasn't like that, Bales. Not really." He sighed.

"Not like that? You became legendary at Dartmouth, bro! God, you had girls falling into your bed at night." Zach continued, and Bailey started to stand, but Marcus pulled her back down.

"Zach's just exaggerating, you know how he is." He whispered soothingly.

"I don't know anymore." She replied. All she could think was 'i had him first, doesn't that count for anything?'

"So what has everyone else been up to?" She asked, shutting out the look Cody was giving her. She couldn't handle Mr. I'm-suddenly-so-good-in-bed. Speaking spitefully, he was average.

Maya had finished her time in Chad and opted to move out there somewhat permantly to teach at the newly finished school, and help the town rebuild one of it's poorer sections. She was only back in the states for a week or so, just to get in touch with her family.

Woody had opened a Mexican buffet down in New York city and was a sucusessful salesman, if he could only stop eating the produce, he joked. He had a girlfriend who could fart 'Through the fire and flames' and had an apartment with her.

She knew what Marcus had been up to, as she had all his CD's and listened to his comeback where he went from a baby performer to a man that girls drooled over and sent locks of hair and weird stuff. She congratulated him, showing him her iPod with pride.

Addison worked as a police woman in Boston, and proudly showed everyone her gun, which scared not only Bailey but the majority of the room. She waved it around, laughing saying that it sucked that she couldn't have coffee in the morning otherwise her had would shake too much and she'd misfire. She also described in vivid detail what it felt like to be pepper sprayed to the point Bailey felt her own eyes hurt.

Maddie, although she was unsure on what she was doing here with the group, still lived in Boston as well and had ended up sharing a flat with Addison where she worked as the leader of a local homeless shelter and veterinarian.

Reina was learning to be a chef, and had a high paying job down in Los Angeles.

Zach said that 'school wasn't really his thing' even though he got a degree in history, and talked about joining the military, which Cody responded to with anger.

"It's great he wants to go off and do that, really, but I couldn't image losing him." Cody said, "I think his mind is set, though."

Cody was currently the head of Tipton Industries, as London's father had died only six months prior. London was inadequate as a heir to everything, so she'd hired Cody to be the acting man while she continued life as before, but a little more depressed, Bailey had noticed.

But it was London who won the prize for the most exciting news.

"I was going to tell you yesterday, with everyone, but we had to hunt you down." For the first time in her life, she seemed nervous. She carefully pulled out of her bag a ring and slipped it on her finger. Her ring finger. Everyone stared in silence until Maddie whispered, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes! Hello world, London's getting married!" Bailey felt herself comfortable once again, and got out the good wine as a congrats as London began to gush about preparations.

"Well, Maddie and Bailey are expected to be bridesmaids. Maddie as Maid of Honor, and Bailey as Co-Maid of Honor!" She said, "Now that I know where to find you, shoving you into a diamond incrusted bridesmaid dress will be so much easier." She said.

"London, I'm honored." She said, and London grinned with bravado.

"That's not the only big news." London smiled.

"What? You're pregnant?" Zach joked. London threw a throw pillow at him ("Because Bailey, they're called throw pillows for a reason!") and laughed.

"No. I'm opening my own fashion line and store. Today's the grand opening." She smiled, "Here in Orlando. And...I want all my friends to be there for it. And for each of you to model the line created after you." She winked.

"Who knew London Tipton was sentimental?" Addison said, "This is incredible."

"Yep! So get you're best on Bailey, because we're heading over there now."

Bailey was floored. "London, I mean, this is nice and all but I don't think-," Bailey couldn't recall a time she'd been outside of her house casually. It was a funny thought, to go out to have fun. To go to the mall for gosh sake's!

"What? You have to go! C'mon!" These were the general responses as soon as the words left her lips. London stood and walked to Bailey.

"Bailey, if I really wanted to tell you just about the wedding, I would have called or done it later. But I really want you there. I mean, I want my best friends to share in my greatest triumph. It wouldn't be the same without you there." She whispered. Bailey saw the sincerity in her eyes, and that's what broke her. You couldn't fake the look London was giving her.

"Give me a moment." SHe sighed, and everyone cheered. Within the hour, she was locking her front door and stepping into a Tipton Limo. She couldn't remember the last time she'd rode in one of these.

She ended up squished between the twins, and noticed that they'd grown even taller and more like men in the years she'd been away from their world. Zach's hair was cut shorter and spiked up, and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a week or two. Cody was clean shaven with slightly longer hair slicked back just perfectly. Zach affectionately swung an arm over her shoulder, and for a moment she closed her eyes and pretended it was the old days. When she was only a teen, and not 23.

"Mosby will be happy to see you, Bailey." Zach chatted casually while Cody did his best not to set things off ease, "He and and that old teacher of ours have twins now. Twins! Ah, sweet justice." He chuckled.

"I designed a line just for them too. And their children. Those girls will be the best dressed babies if their godmother has anything to say about it!" She smiled happily and gleefully.  
"Godmother?" Bailey spluttered.

"Of course! I was the obvious and perfect choice." London batted her eyes.

"She'll spoil them rotten, and they're not even two." Maddie chortled with her, "And they are the most adorable little tykes ever!"

The ride to the mall was much too short, and she figured it was too early in the day to be drinking so much. Heck, it was only noon. What was that phrase though? Oh yes, it has to be five somewhere.

But all her worries faded when they were escorted through the mall and the crowds of cameras like it was a movie premiere and she saw Mosby and the mrs each with a little caramel colored girl in their arms. She hugged them both and baby talked little Nadia and Helene for a moments, and Mosby commented how well they took to her, whereas when Woody got within five feet, they screamed their little heads off.

"They may be smelling that five day old no-shower stink." He said, eating a meatball sub. At that comment, London had him promptly carted off to be hosed down before he dare step foot in her clothing line.

"So, there's twelve different lines I'm showing with the opening of my first five stores today; one in DC, one in New York, one in Boston, one in Cali, and one here!" She said gleefully as a clean shaven and pleasant smelling scowling Woody with wet hair reappeared.

"The cameras will love you, because I pay them too! You're faces will be everywhere on the official billboards advertising my line. Because, who better than the faces of you guys? And me, of course. Yay me!" She paused as her phone rang, and she held up her fingers to answer.

"Hey, sugar muffin! Yeah, I'm here. Okay, oh you would not believe it! I can't wait for you to meet everyone!" She gushed over the phone, and Bailey realized it must be her fiancee.

"So, whose the lucky guy?" Bailey nudged Maddie, looking at where London was practically glowing as she talked over the phone.

"Even I don't know. I mean, she didn't tell me. I know she's been seeing someone, but they've kept it closely under wraps." Maddie seemed a bit hurt, but smiled with force, "She seems so happy though, how can I not be too?"

"I want a guy that makes me that happy one day." Maya smiled, "I guess that could have been Zach," She glanced over to where he and the guy were in stitches about something, "But it wasn't meant to be."

"Same with Cody and I." Bailey agreed.

"Okay, so my wonderful soulmate is coming to see us all in our clothes!" London gave a little skip and a happy dance, "He's heard so much about all of you, and met some of you." Bailey and Maddie looked at each, sharing a similar look. It either meant he meet the Hotel group or the Boat group, but Zach and Cody had probably both met him, as they were the only other tie between the group. But it was impossible to guess. London's taste were so unusual that the very idea of guessing her husband was something laughable, and London would probably laugh at them if they tried.

"Now- onto the clothes!" London waved her hand and twelve racks of clothes were shuttled out by various people in black, each with sparkly pink lettering on the board above it with unusual names...the names of the lines.

Bailey was sure that London hadn't meant to hurt their feelings, of course, but the names she choose showed the more mean side of London which she was sure that all the heiress had meant to do was poke some fun or reminisce in past memories.

For example, although Bailey had to admit the clothes fit their personality perfectly, she felt a little deflated at the name of her own line and those around her.

Maddie's line was by far the best tailored of all, you could see it in every stitch of perfect and flawless, elegant fabric. But the name was 'Candy Counter', which to the average eye would seem like an odd name or even avant gaud, but the look on Maddie's face which seemed like a mix between a grimace and a laugh showed it all.

Zach's line was no more than what he wore on an average day, but with a little more 'oomph', as she saw London try to explain layering to him and show him some tricked out pants and expensively dyed fabrics. It was called 'Zackattack'.

Cody's was a time before she met him, full of sweat-vests, pleated pressed pants, smart looking oxfords, and all done with a certain style that made her cheeks blush red and realize how attractive he- and his twin really were. Cody was calling over Woody to read the name of his line- 'Coholy Toledo', which Bailey remembered from the first meeting of the two former roommates when they retold it.

Woody's line was called 'The Woodster' and seemed fit for a man going out hiking or outdoors all day; not that Woody enjoyed any of those, but they fit him well. There was also some nice looking clothes, she supposed, for Woody when he went back to running a company.

Renia's was by far the smallest, and called the 'Modern Chef' and one can imagine the looks out of this line. It seemed vintage, like she was a housewife and filled with dresses, polka-dots, and light fabrics.

Addison's was called 'On Coffee' and was as eccentric as the long-legged girl was, filled with deep purples and stars and somewhat looked straight out of some sort of fantasy movie. But it was totally fashionable, Bailey thought as the girl pulled on a pair of sky print leggings that made her legs seem to reach miles.

Maya was 'Out In Mr. Chad' and reflected a more global type of style, filled with African, Asian, and European inspired pieces, and ended with a very american punk-rock look filled with leather, studs, and cut up shirts.

Marcus was the 'Little Entertainer' and his outfits could be described anywhere from 'ghetto' to hip-hop clothes full of wild graffiti everywhere and baggy pants with chains abound.

After carefully inspecting each of their wardrobes, Bailey turned her attention to her own. It was called 'Little Haybail' and she touched each western inspired look with tentative fingers. The name alone wanted to make her barf, as that's what Cody used to call her. And she would have loved this look before, but now, it fell flat in her eyes after the family's falling out. There were perhaps two or three pieces, though, that she found accecptable, and at these marveled at London's class and beauty and talent.

London quickly had them in their first outfits, and Bailey wore a chambray top with no sleeves, highwaisted red pants with a white jacket over it all. She thought it almost looked like something from a 4th of July poster.

In the chairs on which they sat to get hair and makeup, Bailey couldn't help but feel like a aristocrat and reminisced the earlier day when she thought all she would do today was clean her flat.

Beside her, London and a helper were debating wether to shave off Zach's slight beard.

"I think it makes him look dangerous." The male helper, clearly gay, said licking his lips.

"Yes, but is dangerous what we really want to go for?" London was contemplating.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Zach asked weakly.

"Yes, I think it's the perfect look!" They ignored Zach.

"Well, let's ask someone. Bailey!" London spied her at the next chair, "Do you think that we should make him clean-shaven? Or is he fine the way he is?" Bailey looked at him and a hot blush ran up her cheeks.  
"I...uh...he's...," She blubbered on and the male helper gave a triumphant smile.

"See! She's speechless! Red in the face, so clearly she thinks it's attractive too!"

"I never said that!" Bailey grit her teeth, embarrassed.

"Oh, honey, you didn't have to." Bailey avoided Zach's looks and tilted her head.

"London, shush. What was that?" She asked, craning her neck to hear something that she couldn't place.

"Just the paparazzi. They want the first looks at my collection, but they won't get in. I hired the best body guards." London said, brushing away her concern.

"No, I hear it too." Zach jumped out of his seat, against the protests of London and the stylist, and walked around. Now it seemed that everyone in the tiny room could hear the patting sounds that penetrated the walls.

"That's not just paparazzi." Woody stated the obvious. Zach looked around, and grabbed a sharp item from one of the tables and approached the door. Right as he began to open it, Addison got a terrified look on her face and threw herself out of the chair.

"Zach don't!"

But it was too late and Bailey knew exactly what the sound was as the door was opened.

Guns.


	2. Day One

**decided to change the rating to M for violence, hinted rape, character death, and a possible Lemon or two (if the reviews are good). This is pretty dark, even for me, but it's a challenge and I promise there will be a happy ending. **

Day 1:

Addison's reflexes were stellar, Bailey noted. Her training kicked in and she barrel rolled across the floor, shouting for everyone to take cover for the moment. Her gun, which sat on the table where she'd nearly thrown a fit when they almost didn't let her take it in with her, was in her fingers in a ready pose. Zach was still by the door, and grabbed a glass bottle and broke it, holding two dangerously sharp objects in his hands.

The door was ajar, and Bailey found herself cowering with her stylist underneath the tables, pulling clothes in front of them.

"This isn't normal, there's so many guns." Addison whispered, her face crinkling in fear.

"Then we need to get us out of here." Cody spoke from where he was crunched into a ball, but still none the less demanding. Addison stood fully, and Bailey had never seen such a strong look on her face before.

"Not until we know it's safe." She said.

"If we stay here, and they come this way, we're trapped. Bang, dead." He emphasized with a finger and Renia whimpered a bit.

"We don't know what these people want, how many of them there are, or if they're prepared to kill or the guns are for show. I know that growing up at the Tipton was all glitz and glamour, but there's parts of Boston you'd wet your bed if you saw that I've seen!" Addison snapped.

"What's going on?" London whispered.

"We don't know." Bailey reached across to hold her friend's hand, and found London shaking like a leaf.

"Oh my god! Mosby and the twins!" Maddie gaped, "They were outside. Oh no, oh no..." She bit her lip, "Addison we have to see if they're okay!"

Addison's face changed a bit, but she never let down her guard. The door cracked open a bit, and the shots sounded farther away.

"We go quickly, we get out if I say so and leave them behind." She said, "Are we clear?" She held everyone's eyes until it was agreed. Bailey lied to Addison; she knew that if she saw her former teacher and, for all intents and purposes, principal she'd do anything to help.

"No one say anything. Try not to breathe." Addison's face was no-nonsense, and she slowly crept out the door with her gun held high. Zach said he would be the last to go, and Bailey ended up second to last, too polite to shove her way around.

The doors in the back alleys of the mall were deserted, and there were screams from far away. Bailey felt as though she was in a apocalyptic film, and to calm her nerves she found a makeshift weapon on the ground.

The first five doors didn't open, and the group came to the cussing- quietly- conclusion that all the doors would have been sealed off by the gunmen.

"I...We...we have to be safe." London fiddled with her engagement ring incessantly, "I have the best of the best guards!"

They turned a corner and saw a lump on the group. Addison approached with caution, turning the body over and checked the pulse. The silver badged gleamed on the vest, and Bailey took in a sharp breath not to start freaking out.

"You had guards." Addison's gaze looked up to where at least five more similar bodies littered the halls.

"So that's how they want to play." Zach growled, and Bailey watched his fist clench around the bottle, as he'd given the sharp pole to Cody.

"We need to get out of here." Marcus stated the obvious.

"That's going to be difficult. I can almost saw with certainty that they'd be meeting in the center of the mall,and they've closed off all the entrances. I'm sure they've wired the cameras already too, so we need to be careful." Zach went through quickly, looking at Addison after a moment.

"We can get to the closet and unopened store front from here. We need to change. Durable, no heels, no dresses, nothing that could get ripped and slow us down." Bailey decided, and London gave a gasp of horror.

"If I'm going to die, I'm going to die in style!" She hissed.

"Then die in very fashionable survival gear." Addison snapped, her patience running thin.

"Guys, I think it's fair to warn you that when I get really stressed, I tend to break out in hives and fart a lot, I can't help it." As he was speaking, eau d'skunk passed underneath everyone's noses, and Woody looked on sheepishly, "Sorry!"

"God, dude." Zach inhaled sharply, "Keep to the back of the group."

Woody rumbled by, so that he was almost behind Zach, so that even the elder Martin twin didn't have to suffer his unfortunate intestinal problems.

"His stink will either K.O. them on the spot or lead 'em right too us." Renia said bitterly, and she was scolded by at least two people, because Woody just looked utterly hurt.

The storage room for the new clothes was in a wild disarray, clearly searched before they arrived. Addison sent someone in one by one, to not draw attention as there was a door on the other side wide open and there were shadowy shapes pacing back and fourth. When Bailey was sent in, she took out her phone with shaking hands and threw off her shoes. accessories, and shirt- but her pants seemed comfortable, easy to move around in, and mostly durable, so they stayed. She was so fearful, and she couldn't believe how much emotions he felt, that she grabbed items that weren't exactly to her size, and she had to modify slightly in the hallway with a couple bobby pins and hair ties. London took the longest, and in the end Addison was so frustrated that the heiress wouldn't listen about the shoe situation that she broke the heels off of the five pairs she'd brought out to keep with her.

"Those cost a fortune each!" London cried with horror, dropping to her knees and cradling them like children.

"Are they worth your life?" Zach hissed above her, kicking them away. London just rubbed her tear-stained eyes and looked up, torn. Before she could say anything, Addison had throw off her combat boots, thrown them at London, and dove back into the room within record time. Bailey really respected the girl now.

"We have to go this way. I know this mall." Bailey whispered, "We may be able to sneak around the food courts and wait for help." She quickly drew with her fingers a map of the floor plan, explaining the path.

So, everyone armed with poorly misshapen weapons- sans Addison- crept out forward. The crying and yelling became progressively louder and louder until they reached the main center, and Bailey fought back the urge to barf. Blood, bodies, goddamn children laying on the ground. From just a quick look, there were at least fifteen, if not more people with harsh looking guns yelling at people who struggled in their grasps, most with clothes half torn off.

"Where is she?" One closest, too close for comfort in fact, screamed at a mall-goer's face, "Where is London Tipton?"

London was swiftly shoved to the back of the group, and everyone was told to hush up s Bailey and Zach moved forward to survey the situation.

"I can do this." Addison said softly to Zach, pushing him back.

"I'm going to be in the military!" Zach sounded very offended.

"Going, key word."

"Hey, I learned a few things already, took a couple classes." Zach said with a leery grin, "I couldn't wait."

"Well, food courts out." Bailey said sadly, pointing to where three men were pacing near one of their only plausible escape routes.

"Damn." Maya said under her breath.

The man was still screaming for London, shaking a teenage girl around like a rag-doll and grabbing her in places that made Bailey see red. His gun was pressed against her chin, and she was crying hard, saying that she'd never even met London Tipton.

"We have to do something." Bailey moaned.

Addison looked at her former friend, "Bailey. I know it's in your nature to help, but we've gotta think about ourselves."

Woody coughed from the back. "Is it also a bad time to say that if I get really nervous I may pass out..." He began to say, and before anyone could catch him, he fell like a deadweight to the floor. The sound echoed, and everyone's faces were that of pure and utter incredibility.

The sound alerted the man shaking the woman to their place, and he dropped her on the ground where she shivered and began crawling away.

"Oh god, oh god." Renia repeated over and over and Bailey's mouth went absolute dry.

"Well, well, I think we've found our mice." He called out, and more men with guns were at his side.

"We can't all get out." Zach quickly decided.

"They want London, and we don't know why. But I don't think they'll keep us alive if they have her. They're more likely to keep us alive so London will come to them easier." Addison murmured in response.

"So we keep London safe." Bailey looked back at the girl, who was currently on the ground unresponsive and blank-faced.

"At any costs." Cody nodded.

"I think I've found her!" The guy was yelling over his shoulder, and Bailey shoved London from the floor, shaking her and trying to make her move. Since their hiding place was already found, she found no reason to hesitate to smack her hard across the face- which surly woke her up.

"You ruined my makeup! I spent so long perfecting it!" London ran a hand over the already red print.

"Not the biggest problem." Addison licked her lips, "When I saw go, we're all going to run different directions, okay? I'm going with London, Cody you need be somewhere else. We don't know if they've realized that London can't do anything with her company in matter of speaking." Cody frowned.

"How do we know that's what they want, eh? Why I can't I stay with you?" He asked, looking at the gun in her hands.

"I'm sorry." Addison said, and there was no more time for words, because she shoved London out into the open.

"London! Run!" Marcus screamed and London, for once in her life, did not need to told twice. The whole join collapsed with beldam at this point. Woody was left in the shadows, because who wanted to lug around a heavy kid who blew their cover when he'd be perfectly fine on the ground, as Bailey sprinted off to the left, only throwing a momentary glance over her shoulder to see who followed. Cody.

But that one look directed her right into the hands of a greasy looking guy who pulled her hair and called her by name.

"Get off of her!" Cody cried, and kicked the guy in between his legs from behind. The guy cussed and crumpled, and Bailey kneed him hard in the stomach as he went down. She opened her mouth to thank him, but he was already running, reminding her to do the same. The sound of a firing gun went off, and she felt like it was all to fast that Cody was clutching his shirt and red was welling between his fingers. He stumbled, and fell on the ground, gasping for breath and curling. Bailey stopped, stupidly, and fell at his feet.

"Cody! Cody, listen to me! God, don't close your eyes, you hear me?" She demanded, looking at the bullet wound in his stomach.

"It hurts." He whined, and Bailey licked her lips. She forgot about the gunmen. Until that is, she heard a bullet from her left and someone had screamed her name and barreled into her. Her head slammed into the ground and someone was pulling her along, and it wasn't until they were half-way across the fray that she realized she'd left Cody and Zach was beside her, panting.

"You're brother is just lying out there and you left him?" She nearly cried, but quieted herself.

"And you would have been dead with a bullet to the head, so thank me." He threw up his hands, "He'll be fine. Look." He pointed to where Addison had ran across the group and picked up Cody with graceless ease, thrown him over her shoulder and ran in their direction, shooting down a guy in the knees as she did so.

"Where's everyone else?" Bailey searched around desperately, and saw one of London's earrings glimmering across the way, and Marcus running after that direction, so she supposed that he was with her. Maddie was disappearing into one of the stores, and seemed out of the trouble. Woody was still passed out, she assumed, and she searched for Maya and Reina.

Addison was almost at them, and gasped out, "What are you guys doing sitting? Come on!" She hissed, and Bailey stood up and stretched her already bruising body from the impact, and followed Addison down one of the dark hallways, where power had buzzed out.

Just as they seemed to be reaching somewhat safety, and ear-splitting screech stopped Bailey in her tracks.

"Bailey, move!" Zach roughly shoved her forward, but Bailey turned back.

"That sounded like Reina." Cody, at her name, lifted his had, murmuring incoherently, and Addison stiffened.

They looked back to Reina being held by a gunman, barrel against her neck, and Bailey covered her ears so she didn't have to hear the fire. Maya was struggling against another, and Zach gulped, his eyes wild. He put his arms around Bailey, almost like an older brother or boyfriend, sheltering her from what had just transpired.

"Maya." He whispered, his voice hard.

"We can't help them now." Addison reminded softly, sadly, "We have to keep moving on so we don't end up like them."

"Hell," Zach muttered under his breath, and Bailey was unsure if he was referring to the situation or to the state of the mall- smashed windows already with glittering glass on the ground, pilfered storage areas, and a sorry looking place that she could hardly believe an hour ago was queing up for the announcement of Yay Me! Fashion Designs by London Tipton.

"This isn't hell." Addison glowered at him.

"I didn't said that. I said hell as in, 'oh my hell'." He said smartly, which to Bailey rolled her eyes, because it basically meant that this was hell and-well nevermind that.

"So where are we going to?" She looked at Zach and Addison, and a sigh of relief washed over her that out of everyone, she was separated with the two best gun-people and abilities, because her logic in situations like this was little. Not to say she couldn't theorize what to do, but that was it. It was only theories and discussions about 'what if' situations, she didn't experience things like this.

But she could shoot a gun. Sure, she may be a little rusty, but her older brothers had been teaching her how to shoot along with her 'A,B,C's', but she hadn't touched one since she left Kansas. She supposed in a dire need, she could will back all her old knowledge and hit a guy between the eyes.

Her family. They wouldn't even know about this. Perhaps it would hit news? Even so, her family was not one to read outside of their little town, and if it did stumble across the kitchen table or T.V. would they remember that she lived here now? And if so, even in that unlikely circumstance, they would never imagine she'd be one of the people who had been trapped here. What a depressing thought. She wished momentarily she'd called and said her 'I-love-yous' before she'd come, as silly as it was to imagine she could have had any predilections about the upcoming events of the day.

"We go far away. Hope a door was left unlocked." Addison said, and looked at Cody.

"And fix him." Zach finished softly, "You know how to, right Bailey?"

"I never started medical school!" Bailey felt her face grow hot, "But I mean, i sewed up cows and siblings all the time. Helped my mom clean wounds and things, but I've never taken a bullet out."

"You're going to have to try. I can pull it up on my phone for directions, but after that, I guess it's up to you." Zach's meaning was clear. _After that, you'd better do everything in your damn power to save him. _

"I will tr-," She began to say, but crossed her fingers behind her back, lest it was already to late, "I will save him."

But Cody looked horrible, head lolling back, face deathly pale, and blood already leaking through everywhere, but not on the ground yet, so their trail was still unnoticed. But it wasn't like they were particularly looking for them, they were looking for London. Poor girl, she hoped that she, out of all of them, would make it out okay.

Addison led them silently up the stairs, and they exited near a Louis Vitton. Once, Bailey would have never imagined having one, but now the windows were smashed and some taken, so how horrible would it be for her to grab one of those purses that were spilling on the ground. She should get some sort of token, for enduring this, she told herself. Addison's eyes were on all the fancy stores too, but Cody moaned, and they remembered the task at hand.

Bloomingdales was the perfect option to camp out, and just as they were laying Cody down, the lights cut out, and they were cast into an eerie shadow. There was a vibrating sound, and Addison retrieved her phone.

"It's some of the others." She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "It's Woody. He's hiding out at some store downstairs, in the back room. He wanted to know where everyone else was." Addison was about to type back, when Zach swatted the phone away.

"What if that's them? What if they got Woody and they want to know where we all are?" Addison's face paled as if she'd never thought of it, and she stared at the phone in disgust.

"I hope Maddie has the sense not to reply either, if she gets it." Addison whispered, knowing that all they really wanted to hear about was London, and hoped she'd be easy to locate.

Zach was pulling things up on his phone as Bailey arranged Cody among the blankets and display pillows, biting her lip hard. She didn't want him to die, not before she could really apologize, not before they could be friends again.

"How to take a bullet out of a wound, wiki how." Zach read out loud, "huh. Seems good enough." Bailey was standing up, and took the phone from his fingers, ignoring his protests.

"Number two is call 911. I'm sure they're well aware, so that's moot point." Bailey said dryly.

"Yes. In positions like this, I'm sure a bargain will be reached in no time." Addison agreed, but her face betrayed her true worry.

"This doesn't help. It's what to do until medical help arrives. I am the medical help." She groaned in frustration. She found what she was looking for, and began to rattle off things to her two companions.

"Something to clean the wound, alcohol i guess. Salt or painkillers. Tweezers. Needle and thread. Bandages. Water." She said, and Zach was on his feet in an instant.

"I'll go." He offered, "You all stay here." He said.

"I know he's your brother, but I will go. I have the most training. And, if you die, then Cody will have wished he did too." Addison pointed out, to which Zach got a very juvenile pout on his face, and began to argue.

Addison's argument was reasonable, though, and after just a moment of her well thought-out words compared to Zach's feckless complains, she had won and Zach sat angrily on the bed.

Bailey lay on the ground, looking around her. The moments ticked by painfully. She could hear the breathing of the twins beside her, so close and comforting. Rolling back on her side, she pushed away the threat of tears.

Soon later, she checked her watch. Addison had been gone a long time, but had promised to send out a blank message if anything were to happen to her, if she had the time. It wasn't completely comforting, but it eased Zach's mind it seemed.

She tentatively spoke.

"So what have you been up to since Seven Seas High, Zach?" She asked. Zach's voice was bitter and sarcastic.

"Really? My brother's dying, and you want to ask how my days have been?" The venom in his tone was enough to turn her voice sharp too.

"Fine. Stay silent alone in the dark. Sorry for trying to be nice!" She sourly rolled back over, curling up into a ball with shame and embarrassment. It was silence once more.

"I realized I didn't want to leave Cody yet. I wasn't ready to go out and die somewhere." Zach's voice cut through the dark, so soft, that at first she thought she imagined him talking to her. Slowly, she rolled back. She could see the contour of his body against the ebony.

"And this year, you're ready to die?" She saw him flinch, and immediately regretted asking, but Zach's answer was not as hostile as she expected.

"This year I have a better idea of what I'm fighting for, since I majored in history. If not my own reason, my country's reason." He replied steadily, "Cody hates it. We went to separate colleges though, he left me. I've lived without him for four years. I can do a couple more." He shook his head, "Realistically, i didn't expect us to get a house next door and raise our kids as neighbors." He scoffed.

"When did you become so wise?" Bailey wounded.

"That hurts, Bailey. I've always been wise." Bailey couldn't stop a harsh guffaw leave her, and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Yeah, i know." She was sure he almost smiled there, "I could hardly keep a straight face too."

Bailey stood and sat by him, looking at Cody. His breath was getting shorter, and she didn't have to have a degree to know time was of the essence. Why hadn't she told Addison this.

"What would I do without him? I guess I know now how he feels." Zach gave a short laugh, "Maybe I'll have to re-think enlisting. Find something 'useful' to do with my life." He screwed up his face at the thought.

Addison crashed through the store, bags hefted on her arms, breathless.

"Sorry it took so long! There's guys everywhere near the main circle! It's like a video game or something." She moaned, and dropped the bags quietly, "I got anything useful."

"In Louis Vitton bags. Yes, those are useful." Zach snarked.

"Those are useful!"  
"Perhaps to starlets at overrated movie premiers, yes." He countered easily, and Bailey had to intervene, before it got ugly. The two fought like she and Zach had at school, and was a little missing the way they used to banter gracefully.

"Cody?" She asked, reminding the two.

"No I'm Zach!" The elder twin said automatically, but his voice changed, "Oh!"

Within seconds, the materials were out and Addison and Zach between them were holding three phones and two flashlights on Cody's body. She tentatively picked up the materials.

She remembered first meeting him, how young he looked and how innocent he was. How they'd grown, how they'd lived. Any longer, and well, things wouldn't be living. Zach had been even younger, even more childish. Yet here he was, acting so mature. She looked up at him, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" He asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She replied softly.

She began to work on his stomach. After what seemed like a lifetime, she was firmly wrapping the gauze around his newly stitched stomach, poorly done at best with the tools she had, but he seemed more stabilized.

"That's all we can do now." Bailey said, tipping a bit of water into his mouth and helping him swallow. Some dripped down his chin, and Addison reached out to wipe it away, her eyes soft. Zach had wandered off as she finished, not able to see his brother look so dead.

"Do you like him?" She asked, and Addison jumped.

"Me? Like Cody?" She sounded off-taken, and her eyes were lighting up.

"He's a great man. I don't mind if you do." Addison's smile was thin.

"I just don't want to see one of my best friends hurt."

Bailey didn't press anymore, and walked away too, leaving the delusional Addison alone, with the feeling that Addison was straight out lying to her. She looked at her watch; for all the excitement today, it was only five. Her stomach rumbled.

She found Zach rifling through the bags, and eating a box a chips. Her stomach growled even louder, and Zach looked up.

"Hungry?" He asked.

Her stomach roared.  
"I think it speaks for itself." Bailey said hesitantly, and reached out to grab the box anyway though.

Their quiet munching was the only sound that was spoken between the two after that, if you could really call it talking. Addison fussed over Cody, and Bailey recalled once that may have been her, but yet she felt guilty even now she was not. She let that feeling go, though, and found a bed far away from the group, and lay down to nap.

It was still dark when she woke, and she wondered why it was so...oh yes. Her insides turned to lead, and she clenched her fists. The darkness of the department store taunted her, and she raised her head to look around. Zach was tossing and turning in his sleep, and Addison sat firmly on a chair facing the door, the gun in her lap. She looked exhausted, and Bailey felt suddenly selfish for taking the nap. She was about to offer to take watch, when the reality of why she'd woken hit her.

It was a voice being projected through the speakers, the voice that told shoppers when the mall would be closing. The static was thick, and for a second all Bailey could hear was the discharge. A voice grunted, and the mic was tapped, and then he spoke.

"London Tipton, I doubt we've properly introduced ourselves. I am the leader of this, and I am looking for you. I grow tired of this relentless game of hide and seek, it's been nearly eight hours, and it's time for you to give up. If you're sheer exhaustion of being curled in a ball somewhere is not enough to make you come forward, I think we have someone here who will." At this, both Addison and Bailey tuned in sharply to the voice.

"He came in here, screaming your name with a ring on his finger. Either you're his mistress, or his fiancee. Either way, it would be a shame for something to happen to him. And to prove this is not some fabricated lie..." There was a shuffling, and a new voice came on. It sounded vaguely familiar to Bailey.

"London! Babe, don't come here! Stay where you are! Don't-," His cries cut off and the leader returned to the mic.

"So there you go. You have two hours. Or, well, i think you know." There was the bang of a gun, and Bailey flinched. Then, there was no more announcements.

"Oh, oh god." Addison whispered, "Do you know the voice? It sounds very familiar."

"I know. I feel I know him." Bailey pressed her fingers to her temple, "That makes it worse." She knew Maddie would never let London go freely, so she flinched as she imagined what would become of the boy in a few short hours. It was ghastly.

Zach slept through the whole thing. But, they all waited on the dot two hours later to hear the gunshot, but it never happened. Addison's brain fizzed over with solutions.

"She gave herself up."

"I don't think we'd still be here." Bailey whispered.

"Okay, they didn't have the guts to kill him."

"They killed Renia and Maya."

"He's been working with them all along. He's just a pice in a game. A sick, sick game." Bailey didn't like thinking about that one-it would break London's heart. She had no answer.

"Perhaps he escaped?" She offered her own, to which Addison snorted derisively.

"Sure, and pigs fly. These guys know what's what. They wouldn't let a prisoner escape!"

"They let us escape."

"I feel it's only because they choose to." Addison bit her nail nervously, "I don't think it's going to end well for us, wether London is found or not." Bailey bit her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. She'd never felt such fear before, never been so close to death. She worried about them all- not just herself, though.

Cody's condition didn't seem to change much, but he was still alive. That was...perhaps an improvement. But they couldn't tell anything, and she was unsure how much pain he was in. She wished she could help him more. Zach was kicked awake (Addison letting out a little anger) and it was declared that each would sit watch for the night with the gun, lest they men decide to come and capture them as well.

"The police will be here soon. It's been a long time, but things like this are fragile." Addison kept repeating, but licking her lips and twirling her hair.

"You sleep. I can watch first. Then Zach." Addison had refused sleep earlier, so Bailey felt it was the least she could do. Addison's gratitude was plentiful, but she refused to sleep until she knew for sure that Bailey could handle the gun.

Zach was quick to fall back asleep, and Bailey was left up and awake. Now a sliver of the moon shone through the store, and she felt like she had invaded someone else's house, with all the beds, furniture, and seemingly everything one would need in a house.

Her morbid curiosity beat her at around 2 A.M. She crept forward carefully, out of the store. There was just silence, but as she approached she heard devilish laughter from below. Looking to her left, she saw a light on the bottom floor, with many men sitting in a circle, playing cards for their spoils of the mall. She turned her gaze to the other side, where the center lay. Her small body was concealed in the shadows, and she made extra careful to hardly breath as she crouched down, looking at the bodies. She counted, trying to remember how many she saw earlier that day. They hadn't even been touched. She wanted to know if they had killed London's beau.

There was eight casualties. The eldest was an old man which she'd passed as he'd been in the Apple store buying a new phone, and the youngest was a child of no more than fourteen. Renia lay where she had fell, dried blood pooled at her body. Bailey bit back a cry at the injustice and blatant disregard of it all- how they just left her there, a broken stickmen in a undeclared war. But she did not see Maya, so that gave her hope. But as she remembered the gun at her throat, there was no way she could have survived and reasoned that her body was hidden behind something she could not see. She bit hard on her knuckles to resist the urge to dart forward and find Maya and Renia's bodies, bringing it to their friends. There was movement to her left, and she stiffened as she calculated her options. She could scream, but more would come, but perhaps hopefully Addison. She could fire, and miss and that would be horrific. She could stay silent and kick him in the balls before he-

Heavy hands covered her mouth and she did the last of the options on pure instinct. There was a low moan as her elbow made contact with the groin area, which she hoped her assailant was a male, and she began to sprint away, turning back to see...Zach. Dammit.

She picked her way back, where Zach was rolling on the floor in utter silence, but it was clear he was biting his hand to keep from making a sound.

"Sorry." Her whisper was almost just an exhale of air.

"Bailey..." He hissed through his fingers.

"You grabbed me!"

"I didn't want you to scream, but it was unsafe for you out here."

"it's unsafe for both of us." Bailey said snappily, "Can you walk? Or are you paralyzed."

"It hurt, but yeah." He glared at her, but not before looking out to where Bailey had been studying. She knew his eyes searched for Maya, and she couldn't decipher pain or relief when he neither saw her body. After all, there were worse things than death, and the spoils of war never had to be materialistic. She shuddered, and from just a glance, she knew Zach was thinking the same thing.

"I should have protected her."

"You didn't know."

"I wish I had." He said back at the other end at their store, "I want to burry Reina." He murmured.

"I do too." Bailey agreed, "if anything, I want to get her away from there." She gave a dark look behind her, full of hatred.

"Not tonight." Zach put a hand on her shoulder, "It's an hour past your time. Go to sleep."

Even under the circumstances, Bailey need not be told twice. She slept, her her dreams were haunted by the image of Renia's body and Cody's hardly moving chest.


End file.
